Statistics and Registration Service Bill

moved Amendment No. 28: 28: Clause 4, page 3, line 7, at end insert ““, provided that the total time that a non-executive member may be appointed as a member of the Board does not exceed 10 years”” The noble Baroness said: Under Clause 4 initial terms for non-executive directors are to be between one and five years, and under subsection (6) a non-executive director can be reappointed ““on any number of occasions””. Amendment No. 28 would set a maximum time limit of 10 years for a non-executive director. The norm in the corporate world is now driven by the combined code on corporate governance, to which I referred earlier. It provides for appointments of three years at a time, with an especially careful review after the second set of three years, leading to a presumption that, after nine years, a non-executive loses his independence; therefore, while he may stay on the board, he does not count as an independent director under the code, which has implications for his involvement on the board and board committees. The basis of the Bill is that non-executives will exercise an independent oversight function, so it is relevant to consider whether time limits should be set to avoid the directors becoming stale, unquestioning or simply ground down by years of not being able to achieve changes that they consider desirable. I hope that the Minister will agree that refreshing a board is highly desirable to inject new vigour and that this applies however meritorious or committed board members are. My amendment sets a maximum of 10 years, but I am not wedded to that formulation. However, we should write something into the Bill that ensures that non-executive appointments cannot become stale and that those appointing them are forced to look carefully at alternatives. There is sometimes nothing worse than ““the devil you know”” in board appointments. I hope that the Minister will set out how he sees these appointments working over time. I hope that he will also say something about the possibility that someone might be appointed for as short a period as one year. It seems remarkably short and not conducive to the non-executive being committed to the Statistics Board and the learning inevitably involved on appointment to a board. I beg to move.